Macworld Feature: Learn to work better with iTunes libraries

Move your library and open multiple windows

Working with the iTunes interface and your library can be confusing at times. These solutions should offer some clarity.

Is it possible to have more than one iTunes window open at a time?

Yes. Double-click almost any item in the iTunes source list (on the left) to open it in a separate window.

Alternatively, Control-click the item, and choose Open In New Window from the contextual menu that appears. This works with the various libraries (except for the main music library), the iTunes Store, Genius, and your playlists.

Depending on how you use iTunes and the size of your screen, you may want to open multiple windows

The hard drive on my MacBook Pro is quickly filling up. Can I move just my movies, TV shows and other non-music items to an external drive?

You can. Start by going to the iTunes folder in the Music folder within your home folder. The iTunes Media folder (or iTunes Music folder, if you’ve been using iTunes for a long time) contains many subfolders, which in turn contain movies, TV shows and more. Choose which of these folders you want to move, and then copy them to the external drive.

After you’ve finished copying them, move the original folders to the Trash. On the external hard drive, select the copied folders, press and hold Cmd-Alt, and then drag the folder to your iTunes Media folder; this creates aliases. As long as the external drive is mounted, any content you add to your iTunes library for those folders goes to that drive. You should quit iTunes before you connect and mount that drive. Once it’s mounted, relaunch iTunes.

How can I see which playlist or playlists contain a particular song?

If you Control-click a track, you can choose Show In Playlist from the contextual menu to see which playlists contain that track.

Is there a very quick and easy way to tell which iTunes tracks have DRM protection and which ones don’t?

Indeed there is – with a smart playlist. While in your music library, choose File > New Smart Playlist and set the first pop-up menu to Kind and the second to Contains. In the text field, type Protected AAC audio file and save the playlist. If you want to see all your files with DRM – not just music, but also videos and books – just type Protected for the kind.

Optionally, you can add the Kind column to iTunes’ display (press Cmd-J, select Kind, and click OK). After that, if you sort by Kind by clicking on that heading in iTunes, you’ll discover all your protected tracks grouped together.

A smart playlist lets you find your DRM-protected music

I have four user accounts on my iMac. What’s the best way to let them all access my library and make playlists?

This scenario is a good example of where iTunes Match can be useful. It lets each user access all the music and create playlists. Since playlists get synced, you might want to create a playlist folder for each user and have them put their playlists in that folder.